The aim of this unit of work is for students to form understanding on Information Reports so that they can create a short documentary. The initial activities will involve students observing, analysing and creating Information Reports. This process will involve students partaking in thorough researching activities. Students will then learn different aspects of visual literacy as they will need to use images in a variety of ways for their documentaries. Throughout the last two lessons, students will need to turn their information report into a script and create a 2 minute documentary.
Lesson 1The first lesson involves students observing a variety of random Information Reports. They will read them and take note of the way Information Reports are written. They will then be asked to label the different parts of the Information Reports. Following on from this activity, students will be given a handout which shows the actual structure and characteristics of an Information Report. In order to assess whether students have understood the concepts of an Information Report or not, they will partake in an activity which involves them identifying Information Reports from a variety of texts. The lesson will conclude with a discussion with students justifying their choices.
Lesson 2
The second lesson of the unit will briefly re-cap on Lesson 1: identifying the structure of an Information Report. The class will then be split into groups of four, using table groups (of mixed ability and gender), and as a group decide on which native Australian animal they will focus on for the unit of work (a list of animals will be provided). The group will begin to brainstorm what they already know about their chosen animal, using the sub-headings of appearance, habitat, movement, food, behaviour, lifecycle, as a scaffold for organising the information. These sub-headings (or a similar variation) will form the basis for creating an information report and documentary in the lessons to follow. Students can begin to discuss how they might wish to share the workload for their research (eg. one person may like to focus on habitat, another on food). To conclude the lesson each group will present to the class on their choice of animal, and justify their decision.
Lesson 3 This lesson is for students to proceed with their research about their chosen topic in order to gain background knowledge on the subject, being Australian animals. Children use the particular aspects of the animal in order to help them focus their research, for example, it’s appearance, habitat, movement, food, behaviour, lifecycle, etc, which they assigned themselves previously. The teacher will model ways of organising information in an information report in order to provide a focus for ways of collecting information such as sub-headings and also question students on the best ways to find information in books (index, glossary, etc) and to concentrate on their use of present tense and correct punctuation in producing their information. This lesson will provide students practice in seeking appropriate information to compile with a view to producing their information reports and with peer evaluation.
Lesson 4 Students participate in further research “in the field” in an excursion to the wildlife park “Featherdale”, near Blacktown, NSW which is accessible to much of suburban Sydney. This is in order to gather information about the Australian native animals there. Featherdale Wildlife Park allows students t approach animals as they wander around in large enclosures so it is appropriate for primary aged students. Students each have a clipboard and worksheet with the information that they are each trying to gain on this field trip. Students have already, at the end of the last lesson, created a list of the pieces of information which they need to find out. This could include aspects of learning such as habitat; movement and whether or not the animal is now considered an endangered species Students take the school’s digital cameras to the wildlife reserve to record images of their focus animals. After the students return to school with their information and images they take them into their next lesson 5 to organise them. Resources: cameras with charged batteries, worksheets, clipboards, pencils. (Please find attached worksheet).
Lesson 5Students have gathered information about their topics in the library and have also experienced going to the Featherdale Wildlife Park to gain further information and images they use for their Information report. In this Lesson students will use research material gained from both lesson 3 and lesson 4 to gather research on information they have missed which must be included in the final information report. The teacher may assists students by going through the poster that shows the elements included in an Information report and checking with the students on elements they may have missed. The teacher should also walk around to see whether students are being fair in their group work. For those students who have acquired all their information, they may start organising (using the poster as a guide) their information in the form of an Information report.
Lesson 6
Students will have completed their research and have begun organising the information to resemble an Information Report. Students will work together to compose the information in their own words and type up the information on the computer in large font (font size 20). This information will then need to be cut up appropriately in paragraphs, to be stuck on to an A3 cardboard in the structure of an information report including images so that the whole class is able to view the information. Students will then finish the lesson by presenting to the class their information reports and what the most enjoyable and difficult parts of making the information report was.
Lesson 7
While the previous six lessons have been based on students creating their Information Reports for their documentary, this lesson will expose students to the different ways in which we can visually portray meaning. The focus in visual literacy for this unit of work will be on interactive meanings of images. In the documentary, students will be using images and other visual signs in order to aid their script. (For instance, students may show different images of their chosen animal.) Throughout this lesson, students will focus on the different sizes and angles of camera shots and the meanings behind these techniques. They will learn this through observing and analysing a range of images that portray different visual techniques. Furthermore, students will be given the opportunity to create posters and images that may be used for their documentary.
Lesson 8
This lesson will require students to create a story board for their documentaries. In this lesson, students will gather and sequence the images that they want to use in their documentary. They will then be given time to work collaboratively to form a specific order for the different pieces of information. They will represent their ideas through a 10 frame story board. It is crucial that the teacher observes the different groups throughout this lesson so that students are able to efficiently create their storyboards. Each frame in the story board will require students to think of the information they want to show and an image to match the chosen text.
Lesson 9
Each group will turn their written Information Report into a script. The script will be written underneath the story board, and used to record voice over (audio) in students’ documentaries to be made in Lesson 10. The whole class will view a selection of short animal documentaries to serve as a model for their script-writing and documentary making. Developing a script from an information report is moving from one text type to another. A documentary script has a different social purpose, to entertain and inform, and is moving towards becoming a narrative. The language will become more ‘spoken like’ since after all, it will be spoken to an audience, as opposed by read an audience. However, the information report provides a very useful backbone to a script that is entertaining and informative.
Lesson 10
In the final lesson, groups will work on computers to compile and edit their images and video footage from the excursion and record their voice-overs. The storyboard and script provide a direct scaffold for completing the documentary. This lesson is the chance to consolidate the work in previous lessons and put it all together to create an informative, entertaining short documentary for the class audience. The documentaries will also be posted on the class blog, with parents invited to view the works.
UNIT OUTLINE
The aim of this unit of work is for students to form understanding on Information Reports so that they can create a short documentary. The initial activities will involve students observing, analysing and creating Information Reports. This process will involve students partaking in thorough researching activities. Students will then learn different aspects of visual literacy as they will need to use images in a variety of ways for their documentaries. Throughout the last two lessons, students will need to turn their information report into a script and create a 2 minute documentary.Lesson 1The first lesson involves students observing a variety of random Information Reports. They will read them and take note of the way Information Reports are written. They will then be asked to label the different parts of the Information Reports. Following on from this activity, students will be given a handout which shows the actual structure and characteristics of an Information Report. In order to assess whether students have understood the concepts of an Information Report or not, they will partake in an activity which involves them identifying Information Reports from a variety of texts. The lesson will conclude with a discussion with students justifying their choices.
Lesson 2
The second lesson of the unit will briefly re-cap on Lesson 1: identifying the structure of an Information Report. The class will then be split into groups of four, using table groups (of mixed ability and gender), and as a group decide on which native Australian animal they will focus on for the unit of work (a list of animals will be provided). The group will begin to brainstorm what they already know about their chosen animal, using the sub-headings of appearance, habitat, movement, food, behaviour, lifecycle, as a scaffold for organising the information. These sub-headings (or a similar variation) will form the basis for creating an information report and documentary in the lessons to follow. Students can begin to discuss how they might wish to share the workload for their research (eg. one person may like to focus on habitat, another on food). To conclude the lesson each group will present to the class on their choice of animal, and justify their decision.
Lesson 3
This lesson is for students to proceed with their research about their chosen topic in order to gain background knowledge on the subject, being Australian animals. Children use the particular aspects of the animal in order to help them focus their research, for example, it’s appearance, habitat, movement, food, behaviour, lifecycle, etc, which they assigned themselves previously. The teacher will model ways of organising information in an information report in order to provide a focus for ways of collecting information such as sub-headings and also question students on the best ways to find information in books (index, glossary, etc) and to concentrate on their use of present tense and correct punctuation in producing their information. This lesson will provide students practice in seeking appropriate information to compile with a view to producing their information reports and with peer evaluation.
Lesson 4
Students participate in further research “in the field” in an excursion to the wildlife park “Featherdale”, near Blacktown, NSW which is accessible to much of suburban Sydney. This is in order to gather information about the Australian native animals there. Featherdale Wildlife Park allows students t approach animals as they wander around in large enclosures so it is appropriate for primary aged students. Students each have a clipboard and worksheet with the information that they are each trying to gain on this field trip. Students have already, at the end of the last lesson, created a list of the pieces of information which they need to find out. This could include aspects of learning such as habitat; movement and whether or not the animal is now considered an endangered species Students take the school’s digital cameras to the wildlife reserve to record images of their focus animals. After the students return to school with their information and images they take them into their next lesson 5 to organise them. Resources: cameras with charged batteries, worksheets, clipboards, pencils. (Please find attached worksheet).
Lesson 5Students have gathered information about their topics in the library and have also experienced going to the Featherdale Wildlife Park to gain further information and images they use for their Information report. In this Lesson students will use research material gained from both lesson 3 and lesson 4 to gather research on information they have missed which must be included in the final information report. The teacher may assists students by going through the poster that shows the elements included in an Information report and checking with the students on elements they may have missed. The teacher should also walk around to see whether students are being fair in their group work. For those students who have acquired all their information, they may start organising (using the poster as a guide) their information in the form of an Information report.
Lesson 6
Students will have completed their research and have begun organising the information to resemble an Information Report. Students will work together to compose the information in their own words and type up the information on the computer in large font (font size 20). This information will then need to be cut up appropriately in paragraphs, to be stuck on to an A3 cardboard in the structure of an information report including images so that the whole class is able to view the information. Students will then finish the lesson by presenting to the class their information reports and what the most enjoyable and difficult parts of making the information report was.
Lesson 7
While the previous six lessons have been based on students creating their Information Reports for their documentary, this lesson will expose students to the different ways in which we can visually portray meaning. The focus in visual literacy for this unit of work will be on interactive meanings of images. In the documentary, students will be using images and other visual signs in order to aid their script. (For instance, students may show different images of their chosen animal.) Throughout this lesson, students will focus on the different sizes and angles of camera shots and the meanings behind these techniques. They will learn this through observing and analysing a range of images that portray different visual techniques. Furthermore, students will be given the opportunity to create posters and images that may be used for their documentary.
Lesson 8
This lesson will require students to create a story board for their documentaries. In this lesson, students will gather and sequence the images that they want to use in their documentary. They will then be given time to work collaboratively to form a specific order for the different pieces of information. They will represent their ideas through a 10 frame story board. It is crucial that the teacher observes the different groups throughout this lesson so that students are able to efficiently create their storyboards. Each frame in the story board will require students to think of the information they want to show and an image to match the chosen text.
Lesson 9
Each group will turn their written Information Report into a script. The script will be written underneath the story board, and used to record voice over (audio) in students’ documentaries to be made in Lesson 10. The whole class will view a selection of short animal documentaries to serve as a model for their script-writing and documentary making. Developing a script from an information report is moving from one text type to another. A documentary script has a different social purpose, to entertain and inform, and is moving towards becoming a narrative. The language will become more ‘spoken like’ since after all, it will be spoken to an audience, as opposed by read an audience. However, the information report provides a very useful backbone to a script that is entertaining and informative.
Lesson 10
In the final lesson, groups will work on computers to compile and edit their images and video footage from the excursion and record their voice-overs. The storyboard and script provide a direct scaffold for completing the documentary. This lesson is the chance to consolidate the work in previous lessons and put it all together to create an informative, entertaining short documentary for the class audience. The documentaries will also be posted on the class blog, with parents invited to view the works.